Woodworking... HA!!!

So if I'm supposed to be spending so much of my free time doing woodworking now, WHY AM I SPENDING SO MUCH TIME AND ENERGY ON METAL!?!?!?!?!?

A few weeks ago I bought a bunch of old files via Ebay.  This was a lot of very large files of different shapes, and all made from old American steel.  As mentioned in my first posting here, one of the things I am absolutely committed to making for myself is custom tools.  Why would I do such a thing when I've got so many tools already?  BECAUSE I CAN!  Why the heck shouldn't I?  So I bought these files with the intent of destroying them and morphing them into other devices.  Files are made of some of the hardest high-carbon steels known to man.  High-carbon steel is necessary for making any type of tool that must keep a very sharp edge.  Some people use old files to create swords and knives, though I'm trying like mad to resist that urge...

These files are mostly destined for becoming custom plane irons (that's the proper name for the blade of a woodworking plane).  With a little bit of research I found a functional method for "cutting" them into the sizes of material I need.  Who ever knew that the only effective cutting tools for this would be a grinding wheel, a sturdy vice, and a large hammer.  Done properly, this highly violent (yet extremely gratifying) method actually produces a very clean separation.  The problematic part comes afterwards; how on earth do you shape EXTREMELY hard old steel?

The proper way of working with this old steel would be to anneal it by heating it up red hot (to the point it loses its magnetic properties) and then allowing it to slowly cool down in the open air.  This would soften the steel substantially and make it far easier to shape.  Heating steel to this level requires a forge, however, and I don't happen to own one of those.  Yet.  Don't think I haven't typed "home made forge" into youtube and gotten several ideas.  I am certainly capable of making myself a suitable forge, and I've got plenty of things to burn laying around (like my older brother's old Paula Abdul cassette tapes).

The main issue with building a forge is the whole "slippery slope" concept.  Once I have the tools to super-heat steel, the sky is the limit.  It will start with a simple annealing job.  Then I'll want a bigger hammer to "shape it faster while it is still hot."  Then I'll go find myself an old piece of a railroad track to use the hammer on.  Next thing you know I'll be knee deep into the first ever Moeglingator 3000 (the kids are watching Wubbzy right now... I couldn't stop myself).  I'd never attempt nuclear fission in my garage, I promise (after all, I'm not in Sweden).  But what are the chances I'll continue to be able to resist that urge to make myself something very, very shiny, sharp, and highly dangerous?  I don't really have any designs like that running around in my head... really... seriously... there's not a single one... promise... "Trust me, Mom, I know what I'm doing..."


I'd better get back to working with some wood...